Mastodawn

Been thinking hard about blogs again, as I do every few months. I've had a website since at least 1998 and was blogging before I knew there was even a name for it, hand coding pages with dates and entries in HTML. Still maintain my website at https://gregpak.com. Still think of it as the center of my web presence, a place I completely own and control that a fickle billionaire can't easily ruin. Still wonder what it would take to make blogs take off again.

Greg Pak

Writer of over 600 comic books, including PLANET HULK, MECH CADET YU, LAWFUL, and DARTH VADER

Greg Pak

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

The obvious first answer is a great blog reader app of some kind. Back in the day, I didn't use an app. I just had a bunch of URLs of fave blogs that I'd run through a few times a day. But I know folks greatly mourn Google Reader. And I've tried Feedly and NetNewsWire, and they're fine! But I don't remember to go look at them everyday.

I'm realizing the real sticking point is that I just don't have that many friends/colleagues who are regularly updating blogs. Hope that changes.

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

Thinking about all this in part because of a post by @TheRaDR on Bluesky about the possible end of the age of social media. It does feel like it's imploding! The profit imperatives of big social media companies all seem to point toward systems that are loathe to provide the kind of moderation/safety that users really need. And so many companies want walled gardens, preventing creators and organizers from actually directing followers to their projects.

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

So I keep thinking about blogs. They really do solve a bunch of these issues! Of course, any blog with comments has all the terrible moderation/safety challenges of any of these social media sites. I haven't had comments on my own site in YEARS for that reason -- too much to handle. But as a place where folks own and control their own content, blogs are hard to beat!

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

But what would get folks to visit blogs again on a regular basis? I'm fascinated by actor/comedian Andrew Daly's return to blogging a few months back. He just started posting the kinds of little jokes he'd previously posted on Twitter on his blog. And it was awesome! But I imagine it felt a bit lonely after a while, without much feedback. https://andydaly.com/blog/

Blog - Andy Daly

Blog

Andy Daly

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

But what if a bunch of people were doing that and were linking to/referring to each other's posts?

Remember blogrolls? Webrings? Could something like that work again?

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

.@MakeAppPie has nailed one aspect of this -- the collapse of search engines has reduced traffic to non-link-farm blogs. Discoverability is a big problem! https://techhub.social/@MakeAppPie/110449741452034289

Steven Lipton (@[email protected])

@[email protected] I’ve thought about that too and sadly the answer is honest, decent search engines.

TechHub

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

@MakeAppPie Most of the traffic on my own website comes from links I post to social media. Which is fine - seems like blogs and social media accounts should work together like this. That's one of the promises of Wordpress joining the Fediverse, right? Fingers crossed that helps.

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

@MakeAppPie And then I've got some posts that have somehow gotten great rankings in Google results for very specific topics. Like this review of the Canon FTb -- it's consistently one of the most viewed posts every week on my site. Useful content on very specific stuff seems to still draw views! https://gregpak.com/a-love-letter-and-guide-to-the-canon-ftb-best-first-film-camera-ever/

A Love Letter and Guide to the Canon FTb: The Best First Film Camera Ever?

After trying out a dozen great cameras from various manufacturers since I re-immersed myself in 35mm photography this year, I’ve fallen back in love with my first serious camera, the Canon FTb, which might just be the best and most affordable single lens reflex camera for beginning analog photographers interested in the creative freedom provided … Continue reading A Love Letter and Guide to the Canon FTb: The Best First Film Camera Ever? →

GREG PAK • writer • filmmaker

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

Another way to drive traffic to a blog is to have a newsletter that you send out with links or you set up a subscription system like the one built into Wordpress where folks can sign up to get a notification whenever you post. But as @adampknave points out, the more we rely on email, the more people ignore their email. I'm a big believer in email newsletters for creatives! But how many newsletters does any person really wanna get in their email? https://realsocial.life/@adampknave/110449858999965888

Adam P. Knave (@[email protected])

@[email protected] Also things like wordpress mean you can sub to a blog EASY and just get an email when it updates. I try to encourage ppl to sub and slowly they do if they come back enough. BUT the more you read the more annoying that can get so double edged sword. No one wants 50 emails a day about diff sites updating.

RealSocial.Life

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

@adampknave I think my way forward is gonna be to continue posting stuff on gregpak.com, my work-related site, and use social media to point folks there. And I'm planning to launch a new blog for personal, non-work stuff, which may involve more general tomfoolery of the kind I'd have posted on Twitter in the past, along with practical political organizing stuff as the 2024 midterms approach. Again, supported by social media posts.

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

I've got a newsletter associated with my gregpak.com site. Gotta decide if I'll set up ANOTHER newsletter with my new personal site. Dunno about that yet. It's already a lot, isn't it?

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

Ultimately, I'll keep blogging 'cause I like it. Here's hoping the world cycles around and blogs become as relevant as I think they deserve to be once again.

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

BTW, if you're still blogging, please feel free to post a link in response to this post so folks can see it!

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

Well, hey. I'm launching a new blog for the first time in a couple of decades! gregpak dot com is my main site where I talk about my work -- but here's gregpak.net, a new personal blog for non-business tomfoolery! Please do check it out, and feel free to subscribe to get notifications of new posts! https://gregpak.net/

gregpak.net

The personal blog of writer and filmmaker Greg Pak

gregpak.net

Greg Pak May 30, 2023

Posting the link again to see if the autoload image changes (since I changed it on the site). https://gregpak.net/

gregpak.net

The personal blog of writer and filmmaker Greg Pak

gregpak.net

Greg Pak May 30, 2023

Aw shucks it didn't change. Always wonder how long those last!

Alice 🛸May 29, 2023

@gregpak I started my own blog this year (https://thewallflowerdigest.co.uk/) which I'm having fun with just posting whatever I want to, and I'm always trying to find new personal new blogs to explore. I really think blog rolls need to come back!

The Wallflower Digest

Blogging book reviews, embroidery & whatever else may on my mind.

The Wallflower Digest

How To Love Comics May 29, 2023

@gregpak How To Love Comics is a blog that evolved into something bigger. https://www.howtolovecomics.com/

How To Love Comics

Helping new comics readers since 2013. Reading recommendations, tips, lists, reading orders, and more.

How To Love Comics

James Chadbourne May 29, 2023

@gregpak Already jumped in elsewhere, but the personal blog is https://notesfrommosquitohill.com

It’s been there a very long time and has changed over the years. Stories from my career in #EMS, as a #firefighter, #cameras, #photography, random thoughts, and of course #cats. Posting is intermittent as the mood strikes.

Notes from Mosquito Hill

I’m Mack505 and I approve of this message.

Notes from Mosquito Hill

Ralph Brandi May 29, 2023

@gregpak I’m sporadic, but I’m still blogging at https://www.thereisnocat.com. Two posts this month, even, a recent high. :-)

There Is No Cat

'There Is No Cat' is a weblog exploring the interests of Ralph Brandi, including, but not limited to, radio, international affairs, web site building and information architecture, the Internet in general, movies, and music.

Lizard May 29, 2023

@gregpak Updated with variable frequency, sometimes (rarely) daily, sometimes with months apart: https://www.mrlizard.com .

Lizard's Gaming and Geekery Site – Old School Attitude… Modern Rules

jenifer daniels ♎ :verified:May 29, 2023

@gregpak moved my personal website to Tumblr about 9 years ago (?). I post my photos and keep my bio/hire/media hits updated there jeniferdaniels.com

heather May 29, 2023

@gregpak I only post a few times a year to archive my life and complain on my own turf now, but she's turning 23 in August, so... http://fubsy.net/blog

freakishly prompt – embracing my inner weirdo

Hussein Rashid - islamoyankee May 29, 2023

@gregpak I don’t know if it’s still a blog, but I post regularly about my activities at https://husseinrashid.com and activities plus interesting articles (commentary has died down on my end) at https://islamicate.com

Hussein RashidAcademic. Speaker. Educator. Advocate.

Academic. Speaker. Educator. Advocate. I work on religion and pop culture, with a focus on Muslims in the US. I also have an interest in Shi'i theology.

Hussein Rashid

G. Willow Wilson May 29, 2023

@islamoyankee @gregpak Hussein is a great follow and consummate geek

Kelson's Sorta Old Account May 29, 2023

@gregpak I've been blogging here since 2002:
https://hyperborea.org/journal/

K-Squared Ramblings | Sci-fi, comics, humor, photos...it's all fair game.

Sci-fi, comics, humor, photos...it's all fair game.

K-Squared Ramblings

Doctor M. Popular May 29, 2023

@gregpak thanks to an Iron Blogger group I’m in with some friends, I’ve been blogging fairly regularly for the past 12 years on http://docpop.org

It’s a mix of my art, yo-yoing, crafts, diy tutorials, interviews, music, and #SanFrancisco related topics.

Doctor Popular's Weblog

Music, art, crafts, and more from Doctor Popular

Doc Pop's Blog

Adrian Kosmaczewski May 29, 2023

@gregpak blogging once a week at https://akos.ma and one a month at https://deprogrammaticaipsum.com

akos.ma

Dave Clark May 29, 2023

@gregpak I founded and still sometimes blog about soccer at https://www.sounderatheart.com/ That's been going since 08.

My D&D and fiction blog started in 2016 https://fullmoonstorytelling.com/

Sounder at Heart

News, opinion and analysis of Seattle Sounders and Seattle Reign.

Sounder at Heart

OkazuYuri May 29, 2023

@gregpak I've been talking about lesbian-themed Japanese animation and comics on my blog Okazu, since 2002. I'm still having fun. ^_^

https://okazu.yuricon.com/

Okazu

Cathie LeBlanc May 29, 2023

@gregpak In the last few months, I have used all my blogging time to learn #Astrophotography but plan to get back to it this summer: https://cathieleblanc.com/blog/

Desert of My Real Life

Media, Technology, and Education

Desert of My Real Life

ElizabethAmberLove May 29, 2023

@cathieleblanc @gregpak That is beautiful work!

Sam Minter May 29, 2023

@gregpak My personal blog at http://abulsme.com is now down to maybe one or two posts a year. I used to have more I did there regularly but just fell out of it. For my election tracking stuff https://electiongraphs.com has a Wordpress blog part. I’ve had someone tell me I’m crazy to not have it on Substack or something to make it easier to build an audience. Maybe I’ll add a newsletter at some point. Dunno. For now I just have it do an automated toot to @ElectionGraphs when I do a post.

Abulsme.com

The Blog of Abulsme Noibatno Itramne

Abulsme.com

Longbox Review May 29, 2023

@gregpak I sometimes blog about comics and other geeky stuff I like at https://longboxreview.com/.

Longbox Review

I Love Comic Books and other geeky things!

Longbox Review

ElizabethAmberLove May 29, 2023

@gregpak Oh yes, I remember webrings. My first site was on Geocities! For about 15 years I've had AmberUnmasked.com. As WordPress & plug-ins updated, old posts look wonky. I just started a newsletter too. I already have a Patreon and that acts a lot like a newsletter (you can follow w/o paying). My weekly stories are at CatDetectiveCases.com. My pro writer site is bare bones - info about my books, elizabethamberwrites.com.
I used to do weekly YouTube & audio podcasts but it's too much.

Anthony Dean May 29, 2023

@gregpak I run a blog, but most of my traffic (such as it is) comes from Google searches; almost none comes from social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and here combined all equal 1-2% of traffic tops. In my case: I wonder if what I write about isn't interesting/relevant enough; I basically have two blog topics in one site (media and tech), though split them into semi-separate "blogs" by category; and I'm not exactly popular (double-digit # of followers on all social networks besides here).

Anthony Dean May 29, 2023

@gregpak still, my site:

https://www.diversetechgeek.com/

By topic:
Tech blog: https://www.diversetechgeek.com/tech/

Media blog: https://www.diversetechgeek.com/media/

Welcome to Diverse Tech Geek

Welcome to Diverse Tech Geek, a site covering media and technology topics, as well as diversity issues in both.

Diverse Tech Geek

Gavin Sheedy May 29, 2023

@gregpak It sounds like a plan.

John Coxon May 29, 2023

@gregpak Feedbin lets you send email to your RSS reader, which is how I read all my email newsletters.

James Chadbourne May 29, 2023

@gregpak @MakeAppPie Fifteen years on, this very specific post about modifying the radio in a 2004 GMC remains my most popular post. It struck a chord at Google somehow.

The blog is photography, stories from my job on the ambulance, and random musings. Yet this…

https://notesfrommosquitohill.com/2009/02/03/how-to-hack-an-aux-input-into-a-delco-tape-deck-for-10/

How to hack an AUX input into a Delco tape deck for $10

I’ve searched high and low for this information, and I couldn’t find it online. After I figured it out myself, I thought I should share. A recent annoyance with our cars has been the la…

Notes from Mosquito Hill

Steven Lipton May 29, 2023

@gregpak its fascinating to me how the popuarity of some posts happens. I still get a consistent stream of views for this post: https://makeapppie.com/2015/11/11/how-to-add-stack-views-programmatically-and-almost-avoid-autolayout/

How to Add Stack Views Programmatically and (almost) avoid AutoLayout

Some people don’t like Interface Builder and like to code instead. Sometimes your layout is so dynamic you need to lay out in code. In either case, programmatic layout of views becomes the an…

Make App Pie

Arthur Wyatt May 29, 2023

@gregpak @MakeAppPie or that, yes.

Ian Rose May 29, 2023

@gregpak It does feel like there's a lot of room opening up right now for discoverability tools. We've had the internet curated for us by too few hands for too long. I think a lot of us have forgotten what it was and what it could be, and I'm actually more hopeful now than I was a few years ago that it could be better. Maybe, just maybe, search eating itself is a necessary step to something better.

toolbear#🪧May 29, 2023

@gregpak
I saw @lmorchard fiddling around with a Fediverse webring thingie for a time. I think there's an interest in revisiting & reexamining the web of the recent past that goes beyond nostalgia. I'm all for it.

Arthur Wyatt May 29, 2023

@gregpak those were also useful when they helped sites get crawled and indexed and this surfaced in search engines. Multiple generations of SEO and counter SEO later that’s probably much less the case.

tellyworth May 30, 2023

@gregpak @donncha I’m hopeful that getting ActivityPub into WordPress core could help spur a revival of inter-blog discoverability and features like pingback.

Court Cantrell does not comply May 29, 2023

@gregpak I still blog, but it's shouting into the void. I get maybe one response every six months. I'm not doing any promo for it, though. If I had a celebrity platform going in, I imagine it would be more popular. But maybe not?

We Should Bury This May 29, 2023

@gregpak as a huge Andy Daly fan, his podcasts/patreon is fantastic if you’ve not given them a listen

Femme Malheureuse May 29, 2023

@gregpak I think there will be an uptick in blogs again, at least those which are based on federated platforms like WordPress.

I'd like to integrate Mastodon feeds into a WP blog and feeds from a WP blog to Mastodon. When that's a bit more push-the-button for someone like me, it could be a tipping point.

Steven Lipton May 29, 2023

@gregpak I’ve thought about that too and sadly the answer is honest, decent search engines.

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

@MakeAppPie Wow, that's so on point.

Steven Lipton May 29, 2023

@gregpak I ‘blame’ @pluralistic for my thinking about blogs and search engines. Short of word of mouth, not much else would help at this point

Glenn Fleishman May 29, 2023

@gregpak I fired up the old RSS reader last November. There are more people blogging than I realized. It's a different pace! I blog now again, though some entries get like 30 reads. Nonetheless, I persist.

Greg Pak May 29, 2023

@glennf I'm pretty sure I've asked you this before, but what RSS reader do you use, Glenn?

Glenn Fleishman May 29, 2023

@gregpak NetNewsWire

Daniel Tuttle 🌵🤘May 29, 2023

@gregpak I think about this always. Platforms like FB and Twitter push URLs down on their algorithm so they are responsible for their massive decline. Mastodon doesn't do that, so cross posting here should be a common occurance

Charles Choi 최 민수 May 29, 2023

@gregpak Now you got me wondering, does there exist a tool to automatically take what you post to Mastodon and automatically convert that to a personal blog post with a back-link to the original toot? Would that even be wanted thing?

pdb May 29, 2023

@gregpak
I think this is good for us to be talking about. Grateful for this post!

Long-time irregular blog-keeper. Current site incorporates an old blog and serves both the work stuff and the personal. That wouldn’t suit everybody, certainly. But like you, I’m more reliant on the idea of my own independent web presence than ever, and this is how I’ve come to manage it. https://pdbowman.studio

paul d bowman studio

paul d bowman studio

TTV's TheTickMS May 29, 2023

@gregpak I always mean to blog more. I loved finding stuff to write about for my personal site, and had a site for the Buffalo Sabres during the heyday of blogs.